Penholder.



Patented Oct. 23, I900.

J. .v. WASHBUBNE.

(Applicatio NHOLDER.

n filed May 14, 1900.)

(No Model.)

' ceived within the tubular end of the holder lar end of the holder the pen is forced. The

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES V. l/VASI-IBUBNE, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

.PENHOLDER'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,350, dated October 23, 1900.

Application 1116a May 14, 1900.

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES V. WASHBURNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Penholders, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore it has been difficult to remove pens from holders after long use because of corrosion and thickened ink, and this condition usually arises because the holders have been made with concentric surfaces between which the pens have been received. This construction makes it possible for the holder to readily clog up, and my invention is designed to overcome these difficulties.

In carrying out my invention the pen is reand is held against the inner surface thereof by a gripping member of metal having a 1ongitudinal edge, between which and the tubuhandle and tubular end may be made in one piece of wood or other suitable material, or the handle may have a reduced end around which a tubular metal end is received. The gripping member comprising a form of metal having a longitudinal edge is received within and lengthwise of the tubular end of the holder and extends across within the same. Means are provided to retain the gripping member within the tubular end. Where the handle has a reduced end passing into a tubular metal end, the reduced end is longitudinally slotted and the gripping member of metal is received in the slot, and where the reduced end is not slotted the gripping member is preferably made with a projection to pass into a hole in the tubular end. This gripping member or form of metal may be a plate or blade imperforate or perforated, a wire of elongated U form, or a plate of metal slotted to an elongated U form, the said forms all possessing the uniform characteristic of the longitudinal edge parallel with the axis of the penholder and between which and the inner surface of the tubular end the pen is forced. Consequently on the under side of the pen proper there is only one point of bearing, which, however, is sufficient.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section and partial elevation at the end of the Serial No. 16,558. (No model.)

penholder, showing the pen about to be forced to place. Fig. 2 is a cross-section at .30 0c of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section at right angles to the section Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 1, showing a wire form instead of a plate. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show modifications in the form of the metal gripping member, and Fig. 8 is an elevation and partial section showing a modification. The figures of the drawings are of enlarged size for clearness.

The handle a of the penholder, usually of wood, is preferably made with the reduced end at, around which isreceived the tubular metal end I), which also is of usual construction and preferablyheld in place by adhesive material. The reduced, end a of the handle is preferably slot-ted centrally and longitudinally of a width adapted to receive the gripping member. This gripping member may be of modified construction and still be equally adapted for the purpose intended.

In Fig. 1 the gripping member isshown as a blade (1 of thin metal with the ends rounded.

The cross-section, Fig. 2, is taken through the tubular metal end I) and the blade d showing the blade as occupying a central position, and while the blade (1 is made with rounded ends it is not essential that the ends be rounded. In Fig. 1, 0 represents the pen as placed inside of the tubular metal end and against the blade at preparatory to pushing the pen into the tubular end in place ready for use.

The blade or other form of metalis intended to be of the same width as the interior diameter of the tubular end, so that when the pen is forced to place between the'inner surface of the tubular end and the edge of the gripping member or blade the pen is held tightly in place, the tubular end in the act of forcing the pen to place changing from a circular to a slightly-elliptical form at the place where the pen is inserted, the said tubular end being of sufficiently-thin metal to allow for this change of shape.

Figs.'2 and 3 show the same blade or grip .ping member as is shown in Fig. 1 and which is an imperforate plate or blade.

In Fig.4 the gripping member placed in the slotted end of the penholder-handle is shown as an elongated U-shaped wire 6, the

free ends being held in the reduced end a and the connecting part of the wire or the bend being at the open end of the tubular metal part b. This wire has the same effect in holding the pen as the blade d.

The gripping member shown in Fig. 5 is like the link of a chain-that is, it is a perforated or mortised plateand the action of the same in holding the pen corresponds with that of the blade cl or the wire 2. A similar form is shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 5, except that therein the gripping member 9 is open at theouter end, the connecting-bend being at the inner end, the various figures bearing the same relation to one another. This form 9 is made from a plate slotted.

I have shown in connection with the gripping member g a small projection 2, adapted when in place to enter a hole-in the tubular end of the penholder. This has a twofold object-first, to prevent the withdrawal or accidental falling out of the gripping member from the tubular end, and, second, to pre vent the tubular end turning in relation to the gripping member. This form of gripping member g, Fig. 6, may be employed in a tubular end of wood or metal and is similar to the gripping member is (shown in Fig. 8) in that both are held in the tubular end by a projection of metal adapted to pass into an opening or hole in the tubular end and the gripping member is open at the outer end to yield when the pen is introduced.

The gripping member h in Fig. 7 is similar to the form d in Fig. 1, except that the end received and held in the slotted reduced end of the handle is made Wedge shape for economyin metal, the action, however, in use being the same as that of the blade d.

In putting these parts together to form the penholder it is preferable to introduce the gripping member in the tubular end of the handle or in the slot of the reduced end of the handle and then passing the tubular end over the gripping member and around the reduced end a of the handle and connecting the same by cement.

The several gripping members or forms of metal shown and described are the equivalents of one another and perform a like ofiice in holding the pen between the inner surface of the tubular end and a longitudinal edge of the gripping member.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with the handle and tubular end of a penholder, of 'a longitudinally-arranged and relatively thin gripping member occupying a plane which substantially divides the tubular end into two equal parts, substantially as described.

2. A penholder-handle having a lengthwise slot at one end and a tubular end surrounding the same, and a longitudinally-arranged and relatively thin gripping member secured at one end within the said slot, and extending centrally and longitudinally of the tubular end, substantially as described.

3. A penholder-handle having a lengthwise slot at one end and a tubular end surrounding the same and a longitudinally-arranged metal plate occupying a plane substantially dividing the tubular end into two equal parts, one end of the said plate being secured within the said slot, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the handle and tubular end ofa penholder, of a gripping member comprising a relatively narrow form of metal occupying a position within the tubular metal end and extending centrally across and longitudinally of the same, means for holding the same in place so that the pen is held between the inner surface of the tubular end and an edge of the gripping member, substantially as set forth. 7

5. The combination with the tubular metal end in a penholder, of a handle having a reduced end longitudinally and centrally divided or slotted and adapted to fit into the said tubular end and a gripping member comprising a form of metal adapted to be received into the slotted reduced end of the handle, the same extending centrally across the tubular metal end and received in the slotted portion of the reduced end and held thereby, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination with the tubular metal end in a penholder, of a handle reduced at one end to fit within the tubular metal end and said reduced end being longitudinally and centrally slotted and a plate of metal fitting within and held by the said slotted reduced end of the handle and extending lengthwise and centrally of the tubular metal end with the edges closely adjacent to the inner surfaces of the tubular metal end whereby the pen is received between the inner surface of the tubular metal end and one longitudinal edge of the said plate, and is held thereby in place, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with the handle and tubular end of a penholder, of a substantially-fiat gripping member arranged edgewise Within and extending longitudinally of the tubular end, and means for holding the same in place, so that the pen is held between the inner surface of the tubular end and an edge of the gripping member, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination With the handle and tubular end of a penholder, of a substantially-fiat gripping mem ber arranged edgewise within and extending longitudinally of the tubular end so that the pen is held between the inner surface of the tubular end and an edge of the gripping member, substantially as set forth.

9. A penholder-handle having a lengthwise 10. Apenholdr-handlehavingalengthwise of the said gripping niembei, substantially slot at one end and a tubular end surroundas specified. ing the same and a longitudinally-arranged Signed by me this 7thday of May, 1900. gripping member secured at one end in said JAMES V. WASHBURNE; slot, and extending longitudinally Within the Witnesses: tubular end to hold the pen between the in- GEO. T. PINOKNEY, ner surface of the tubular end and an edge BERTHA M. ALLEN. 

